Police advise caution after driver robberies

Police are searching for a female suspect in connection with two pizza delivery driver robberies in Newport News.

NEWPORT NEWS — Police officers are telling restaurants and pizza delivery drivers to take precautions after two drivers were called to the same vacant home and robbed this month.

On Sunday, a Newport News pizza delivery driver said he parked and walked up to a house on Tyler Avenue at 10:30 p.m. to make sure he had the right address. When he heard commotion, he ran back toward his car but tripped and fell. When he looked up, a black woman was pointing a gun in his face and said, "Where's the money?" The delivery driver gave her his cash and as he drove away, he said he saw another person believed to be male running away from the house.

That was the second robbery at the same vacant house within a week. On Jan. 2 at 9:50 p.m., a driver from a different pizza restaurant was called there when he was approached by a black woman, about 5 feet, 6 inches tall with a bandanna covering her face, police spokesman Harold Eley said. She displayed a handgun and took cash, an ATM card and a pizza from the driver, Eley said. No one was injured in either robbery.

The victim on Sunday said he started working as a pizza delivery driver two months ago and was trained to be aware of potential dangers. Now, he is telling other drivers not to get out of their car to investigate if they think a house they're called to is vacant.

Call the number on the receipt, call the restaurant or call the police, said Sgt. Jerry Hairston, Newport News police robbery unit supervisor.

"If you see or feel something that doesn't look right, get out of the area," Hairston said.

Targeting delivery drivers isn't new. The city has had cases where drivers have been shot or assaulted, Hairston said. Last year, the city had 17 delivery driver robberies, compared to 33 in 2011, he said. The department is sharing maps with restaurants to inform them of the city's vacant homes and offering tips to protect drivers, Hairston said.

As another precaution, drivers for Dinos Pizza Shop on Warwick Boulevard don't have business signs on their cars, said owner Steve Merendino, who said officers informed him of the recent robberies. Merendino said it helps to get to know regular customers and to call back and verify orders when something doesn't seem right.

Anyone with information about the robberies is asked to call the Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.